JK and Joel
JK and Joel (
Jason King - born Jason Griffiths in January
1975; and
Joel Ross - born Joel Hogg in May
1977) are a British duo who have co-presented radio shows since
1999 and are the current hosts of
the official UK chart and the early breakfast show (Monday - Thursday) on
BBC Radio 1.
The two first worked together at
Viking FM in
Hull from
1996 when Ross joined the station to present the overnight programme. King was hosting the afternoon show at the time. In
1998 King took over the breakfast show and Ross, who was on the afternoon programme, later began reading the travel bulletins on the show. Eventually the two were paired up as co-hosts and together they won a bronze at the acclaimed
Sony Radio Awards in 2000 for Best Breakfast show.
They left Viking FM to join
Key 103 in
Manchester in
2000, hosting the breakfast show there before going to Radio 1 in
2004. They initially hosted a weekend afternoon programme before moving to the Radio 1 Chart show in March
2005. Just weeks into their tenure, one of the most important moments in UK chart history materialised as for the first time downloads were now incorporated into physical sales. They also present the early breakfast show every Monday - Thursday from 4:00am - 6:55am as of
September 2005, replacing
Nemone Metaxas who left to join
BBC 6 Music. Unusually they don't host the early breakfast show on a Friday, to compensate for their Sunday chart show commitments, being replaced by
Fearne Cotton and
Reggie Yates of
Top of the Pops fame for one day a week.
They have also hosted programmes for
BBC Three, Pure Soap, and
Men & Motors. Joel distinguished himself by winning
Channel 5's 2005
Britain's Worst Celebrity Driver competition on
September 25,
2005, despite the best efforts of JK, his co-driver. They were also seen every Saturday morning on
CBBC show
Top of the Pops Reloaded on
BBC Two which ended in
April 2006.
In January
2006, the duo won a "celebrity pairings" edition of
The Weakest Link, raising £12,900 for the
Five Star Appeal, a children's
charity they had supported while working in Manchester.
*
JK and Joel's official website*
Radio 1*
Unofficial JK and Joel Fansite
